The spring and metal stamping industry employs thousands of people across the New England region. There is a diverse range of opportunities available in areas such as engineering, production, quality, sales, marketing and finance. If you are interested in a career in manufacturing or wondering how to get started, we invite you to read the below biographies on just a few of the professionals working in our industry today.

Dane Hoeffer

Employee Name:Dane Hoeffer

Company: Sirois Tool Co., Inc.

Position: Quality Manager

Years in Industry: 29 years in Manufacturing

Job Description: Manage and fulfill ISO Quality Management System. Manage the inspection function for all incoming, in-process, and outgoing product. Work with Operations, Production, and Customer Managers to assure product quality and timely delivery to all customers. Review the quality requirements to assure proper inspection equipment, procedures, and documentation for all product and processes. Work with Operations, Production, and Customer Managers to develop new vendors and subcontractors by providing feedback on the vendors/subcontractors quality and delivery. Work with Operations, Production, and Customer Managers to monitor subcontract vendors for quality and delivery performance. Work directly with subcontract vendors to resolve their quality issues and assure incoming product quality meets all requirements. Manage the Quality Management System certifications, including internal audits of the QPM and record-keeping. Provide training to employees on the Quality Management System. Manage the calibration of all inspection equipment, company and employee-owned. Develop methods for continuous improvement ideas for the company.

Education: High School Diploma, Tantasqua Regional High School, 1988, Some College

Background: 29 years of Manufacturing with a background starting from polishing and burring, manual machining, CNC machining/grinding to Quality Assurance.

How got into Industry: With all honesty, I got into the industry quite by happen chance. A friend told me of a place that was hiring so I applied and was hired as a burr hand. Not the most glamorous of work to start however I had a fascination with the entire process which pushed me to want to learn more about the entire process. From the Burring department I moved to the Polishing/Finishing department with the same desire to learn. Eventually I moved onto Manual Machining to CNC Machining which is where I started to develop processes, procedures and work instructions for ease of set-up and training of fellow employee’s. I was fortunate to be working for a company that saw my desire and provided the opportunities to be able to learn all the different aspects of manufacturing. I liked developing a system then documenting the process so it could be easily repeated as well as to make it stable and trainable for others. I’ve always been intrigued with the systems and the process that it takes to manufacture an item which had me gravitate towards Quality Assurance. Through the years I’ve been involved with quite a wide range of different aspects of the manufacturing systems. I have found that the Quality Assurance role is a perfect fit for my inquisitive nature and one that I am never bored with. There is always a new challenge, a new opportunity and/or a system to improve/create.

Favorite part of Job:This is difficult to narrow it down to one favorite part of my Job. I don’t have just one favorite part of my Job. I would say that high on my list of favorites is evaluating, diagnosing, improving and training of a system and process. The interaction with all the different fellow employees throughout this process has gained me so much more knowledge than I would’ve ever thought was possible. I love to pass on the knowledge that I’ve been so fortunate to gain so training is another big favorite of mine. After all, you can only keep what you have by passing it on! I thoroughly enjoy what I have been blessed to do and never regret taking that first job as a burr hand.

Would you recommend working in the industry and why: I would and will recommend working in industry specifically in manufacturing. There are so many different aspects within manufacturing from design/engineering to the actual process of transforming that design idea to an actual product. I think it’s fascinating to see a product go from a concept, to raw material, through all the manufacturing steps and finally a finished item. Manufacturing is constantly changing and evolving as new technologies are being developed. The changes that I have witnessed since I started in manufacturing have been incredible. In today’s world, now more than ever, I believe manufacturing has a wide range of opportunities for challenging, important and successful careers.

Suggestions on where to start if interested (training, education, etc.): I would highly recommend starting with an education through a Tech High School and/or a College. With the ever changing landscape of manufacturing technology it is important to have a solid foundation to build with. Once in the industry you can fine tune your education to more job specific education and training. Most employers encourage continuous education and also provide company sponsored training. On the job experience is always beneficial so don’t shy away from learning something new or learning from others that have been in the industry for some time. You will find that most people you work with are willing to share their knowledge. Working in the manufacturing industry is a very challenging, rewarding career with lots of career opportunities.